of security. killed by 2 gunshot wounds earlier this morning.thetalibanhassaid that they carried out the attack. they have been successful and kandahar at assassinating leaders in the past year. the talibsaan say this is one of their biggest achievements in 10 years of war. i was speaking to a u.s. official who said she was a controversial official. they knew about the allegations of drug dealing. as a result of his death, there are worries about what might happen in kandahar. >> does it change karzai's position of strength? >> he was a key figure in the fight against the taliban. not just for the afghan government. he was in kabul a few weeks ago trying to negotiate the next governor of the province. was not that long ago the american ambassador met with ahmad wali karzai. ahmad wali karzai he was realist, a tough man, a man whose tentacles spread far and wide. she was aware of the threat to him. >> the taliban issued letters to most of the top leaders. if you don't leave kandahar in 5 days, you face death. >> what we have seen from the taliban is a change in tactics. those big atta

says it implicates hezbollah. >> a french hostage released bythetalibantellsthe bbc he believes the deal was done to secure his freedom. and canada welcomes william and kate on their first official trip abroad. it's 2:00 a.m. here in london. >> it is 9:00 a.m. here in singapore. broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. this is newsday. >> the chinese communist party is celebrating its 90th anniversary. the world's largest political party with a membership of more than 18 million. and it's managed to stay in power elsewhere have been pushed aside. our correspondent, michael bristow, traveled to the city of yen-on in northern china. the communist base during the civil war more than 60 years ago and considered by many as a birthplace of china's communist revolution. >> the communists like to celebrate their victory. they do it twice a day. there's courage in sacrifice but most of it on one side. they see a partial version of history with a clear message. mao tse-tung's party saved the country. this propaganda is fed to the young, they love the party even befo

released bythetalibantoldthe bbc he believes the deal was done to secure his freedom. canada welcomes william and kate on their first official trip abroad. it is 11:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> we're broadcasting to viewers on pbs america and around the world. >> venezuelan president hugo job as within the last few hours held -- hugo chavez with in the last few hours held a press conference. he is recovering from surgery. the president acknowledged he had a tumor and had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous cells. he says he is determined to fight and is on the road to recovery. sara joins me now. after watching the footage over the last few days, this comes as a bit of a surprise. >> it does. it is quite a big admission because the government has tried to manage this illness. the president has let information out here and there, but no great disclosure. this speech by the president somewhat unexpected and very serious. it was very obvious from watching it that he has had some serious health problems. he lost a lot of weight. his voice is much weaker than we are used to hearing. v

karzai, has been shot dead. with a controversial figure.thetalibanhasclaimed responsibility for the attack. a few months ago, he was interviewed. >> it is quite extraordinary. we were in kandahar for a film in april, and i noted how many layers of security, barb wire, barriers, concrete walls that he had around his compaq and -- of around his compound. i told him he must be in the most heavily secured building in kandahar, and he said, "i have been attacked many times." i said, "who else has attacked khieu?" he said, "is just the taliban." he was regarded in kandahar as the man who had the most power in the province, the man who was the main power broker, whether it came to problems like taking on the taliban, getting help with one of your ailing relatives. >> in about half an hour, we will have more information. clinton, what is the reaction to this killing? >> well, from western diplomats, a great sense of loss. they knew that ahmad wali karzai -- he was the man who could deliver the promised to bring that promise closer to them. not just in the sense of dealing with u.s.

was meeting tribal elders at his offices when the attack happened.thetalibanhasclaimed responsibility. our correspondent, jonathan, has more for us from kabul. give us the reaction. this is another blow for the authorities. >> it is. this was a mayor who was trusted by president hamid karzai himself. he was trusted by the americans. also, this is another assassination of a high-profile figure. remember, two weeks ago, ahmad wali karzai, the president's half brother was killed. there does seem to be a pattern to these killings, targeting high-profile individuals oil to the government. >> this is the attempt, to assassinate high-profile government officials. this is the only strength they have so far, which will also be deterred by our security forces. we will try our best. in the last two years, it still continues. we will be looking after the insurgents. we strongly believe the only strength that they have now. >> do you mean the taliban? >> the insurgents, the taliban, and the terrorists. this country has given a lot of sacrifices. we will continue to try our best by education and trainin

there are threats. >>thetaliban? >>thetaliban. >>despite always protesting his innocence, ahmed wali karzai came close to being charged with corruption but according to a u.s. official, he was too valuable. we needed him. he kept a lid on things and can hard. they say they have lost a strong man in the fight against the taliban in the south. the fight just became harder. >> in other news, the u.n. security council has condemned the attacks against the french embassies in the syrian capital of damascus. staff were injured and property damage when government supporters stormed the embassy on monday. speaking on u.s. television, president obama criticized the president for a missing opportunities for reform and warned against anybody "messing with the american embassy." thousands of people have held protests in cairo demanding the removal of egypt's ruling military council. the act of this wants faster political reform. the military has said the elections could be delayed. you're watching live. still to come, one of the lucky ones. the struggle of migrants fleeing the arab uprising to reach ma

. >> are there still threats against you now? >> every day. >>thetaliban? drug-traffickersstock? >> ahmad wali karzai became close to being charged with corruption they say they have lost a strong man in the fight against the taliban. the fight just became harder. >> the un security council has strongly condemned attacks against the american and french embassies in damascus. stock for injured and property were damaged and government supporters stormed the energy -- embassies on television. >> thousands of people have held a protest in cairo demanding the removal of egypt's ruling military council. the activist want faster political reform. the elections in september could be delayed. the wikileaks website founder has begun an appeal at against extradition from britain to sweden. he is accused of sexual offenses. his lawyers told the high court in london that the description of the charges were misleading and unfair. he denies any wrongdoing. still to come on the program, more on the u.k. phone-hacking scandal, what it means for media relationships around the world. >> breyer earth elements are

foreign troops, mostly american, are battling afiercetalibaninsurgency.and despite previous losses, both americans and british leaders do believe the tide is turning against the taliban. on a visit to afghanistan to the british prime minister david cameron confirmed he is planning to withdraw more combat troops in the coming years. here is our world affairs correspondent. >> david cameron's latest comesa critical time. there's talk of a new phase as plans are to advance to withdraw some forces. yesterday he met both british and american troops in helmand province. on the death of the same day of the british shoulder of the lines of dangerous the situation is. in kabul today with president hamid karzai, mr. cameron said he is confident over all things were on track. >> i do believe that it is right, as we build up the afghan national security forces, as we see a stronger and more confident afghan national army, stronger afghan police, many of whom we trained ourselves, and also the local police, i do believe it is right to start planning the withdrawal of some of our troops. as i sa

that he has been fairly successful in containingthetalibaninthese areas. they even have a bit of a presence in the north. as seen over the weekend and last week, last week the president lost his half brother. the last night he lost another key presidential aide right here in kabul. it is clear that there are many challenges. his successor is under no illusion that the job ahead will be very difficult. >> of course, the transition, the handover between forces, there is not much confidence in this, many feel. >> it is a tricky process. you will have several thousand american troops leaving afghanistan, trained for the role. in many parts of the country the actual role is prepared by police forces and officials. these people are seen as slightly bolder rubble. people who may not be able to have the ability to stave off the challenges that others can hold. >> thank you for keeping us up to date. still to come, united in wanting to save greece and the euro, can a single currency solve the differences in time for thursday's summit? a sticky problem in northern france. trying to clea

,462 civilian deaths in the first half of this year alone. most of those have been blamed onthetalibanandroad-side bombs but more people have been killed in nato air strikes. venezuelaan president hugo chavez acknowledged he will need more treatment for cancer. he said the threat of cells spreading remained latent. he may have to undergo chemotherapy. the legal team of the chinese artist has been told his company did not pay taxes for decades during a closed hearing in beijing. lawyers were trying challenge a $1.85 million american dollar tax bill. before the hearing, his wife said the proceedings were already biased. now italy's chance to restore some confidence in the markets has come in the course of today. in fact in the next few hours, the a vote on the tough austerity budget to pin back spending. the lower house will have a vote on friday. they will not be voting the proposal. the cuts are around 40 billion euros. some $57 billion dollars. >> this is the start of an important two days of the italian economy. today's senate vote on the austerity package for $40 billion euros. th

ofthetalibangovernmentand also a controversial figure alleged to have links with drug dealers and allegations of corruption went against him. but the fact that nato forces often looked to him to give them the validity in their fight against al qaeda. >> we have got the reports from the official death toll from the sinking of a cruise ship in russia has risen to 100. the number was released after more bodies were recovered. >> the bulgaria sank with 208 people onboard at the time. 29 are still unaccounted for and divers are still scattered showering the sunken vessel. and a senior official told "bbc world news" that there had been campaigns and others asked tokyo to stop the whaling but another said the plan was to return. >> thousands of people have held protest in cairo to demand the removal of the council. the military conceded for the first time elections due in september could be delayed now until november. the rather -- it rather feels like the crises just like the debts are rising. fwreast, ireland, spain and another are all coming under the suspicion that they will not be able to repay

suggests they are suspected of fighting forthetaliban. newsof the rest comes on the day when nato troops are due to hand over control to afghan security forces. the u.k. inquiry into phone hacking by journalists could be widening beyond news international. detectives have asked for records of a 2003 inquiry which looked into the use of private investigators by reporters. it found journalists across the industry have paid for illegally obtained information. a new study suggests taller people are at greater risk of developing a range of cancers. the research in the lancet found in women the likelihood of developing cancer rose by 16% for every 10 centimeters increase in height. taller men were all so mad at increased risk. -- were also at increased risk. the space shuttle atlantis is ending the american shuttle program, now landing. those are live pictures. more on that to come. irish prime minister accused the vatican of putting the church's reputation ahead of child rape victims. this follows a clerical sex abuse inquiry. >> the church and the state in ireland have been linked for genera

when nato was involved thatthetalibanattackwas ended. there will still be a presence, but nothing like the number of troops we have seen in the past 10 years in afghanistan. >> germany's constitutional court is considering a challenge on whether the country oppose the c-- whether the country's contribution to bailouts is appropriate. there's concern that it could be against the german constitution. we spoke about whether the case had a chance of success. >> it's not an open and shut case either way. everybody says that it could go either way. another thing is the german constitution was written with memories of war and hyperinflation, very strict rules written into it about parliament having a strong set a on spending. the argument now is that the bailout was negotiated by the government with brussels and the imf and the european central bank. so parliament was sidelined. that is the argument made by quite a few people. a professor will appear in court. he is a law professor in berlin. he said the following -- >> there is an indispensable obligation to control public funding and p

the dead, an influential cleric opposed tothetaliban. thebrunt of this attack was borne by ordinary afghans. late on wednesday, six villagers died in a raid during an operation to flush out insurgents from near the pakistan border. among the victims, women and children. this has led to a wave of anger among afghans. the protests have taken place pressing for the withdrawal of western forces. that is about to happen. some are wondering, at what cost. starting next week and over the next several months, several troops will begin the withdrawal from afghanistan and handing over security to local afghan forces. questions are raised about whether they are ready to take over, especially after these killings. >> this is "bbc news, the headlines -- the fbi opened an investigation into news corp. to investigate allegations that his reporters to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims. italy faces severe financial problems. nations from across southeast asia will meet in indonesia for the regional forum on sunday where disputes in the south china sea will dominate the agenda. china has clashed w

units secure the area. among the dead, an influential cleric, a man opposed tothetaliban. likeso many other attacks, the brought was born by ordinary afghans. more people are also dying from nato air strikes. on wednesday, six villagers died in this raid. it was an operation to flush out insurgents near the pakistan border. among the victims, women and children. it led to a wave of anger among afghans. protest have taken place, pressing for the withdrawal of western forces. that is about to happen imminently, but some are wondering at what cost? starting next week and over the next several months, thousands of nato troops will begin a gradual withdrawal from afghanistan, and the security to the afghan forces. questions are being raised about if they are ready to take on the role, especially after these high-profile killings. >> this is a bbc news. the fbi opened an investigation into rupert murdoch's news corp. to investigate allegations they hacked into phones of 9/11 victims. italy says it has approved a $68 billion package of cuts and tax increases. the country faces severe financi

and promised to tackle inequality and corruption.>>>talibanmilitantshave carried out a major attack in southern afghanistan using multiple suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades, and machine guns. more than 20 people were killed, including a bbc reporter. it targeted the offices of the deputy governor, the police headquarters, and a private security firm. >>> you are watching "newsday." still to come, the u.s. and north korea hold talks in new york. >> in the footsteps of john steinbeck, we find out what life is like for americans 20 -- seven years after the great book was published -- more than 70 years after the great book was published. >>> norwegian police have finished their search for bodies on the island. anders breivik has admitted to killing 68 people. prosecutors say he will be interrogated friday. we have this report from oslo. >> at the cathedral, the floral carpet continues to grow. this person knows that one of these attributes could easily been for him. he came face-to-face with the gun man and lift. >>-- and lived,. >> he started shooting around me and he got sev